advertisement

Kaneland topples Burlington Central

Kaneland guard Connor Fedderly didn't spend the past 3 years on the Knights' varsity boys basketball team knocking down key free throws in late situations for nothing.

So when the No. 3 Knights went 0-for-7 in a helter-skelter fourth quarter of a 53-46 Class 3A Burlington Central regional semifinal win over the No. 2 Rockets, Fedderly's specialty at the stripe came in handy at just the right time.

The Knights (14-15), who battled back from deficits of 7 in the first quarter, 6 in the second and 10 in the third, nursed a 2-point fourth quarter lead by going 11 of 12 from the free throw line to advance to Friday's regional final against No. 1 Hampshire on Rocket Hill at 7 p.m.

And Fedderly, who co-led the Knights with 14 points, knocked down all 6 of his attempts in the final 54.9 seconds, while Ryan David (14 points, 7 rebounds) went 2-for-2 from the stripe and Mark Lilly (10 points) sank 2 of 3 free throws to help Kaneland through. But Fedderly was all business, the antithesis of a fourth quarter that featured 7 Kaneland turnovers and 5 from Central, a 2-for-11 shooting display by Burlington and for whatever it was worth, players spilling everywhere diving for loose balls and on block shots.

"You want (Fedderly) at the line at the end of the game, he's a senior, he's been on the varsity team practicing as a freshman," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. "It's a rarity that you win a game when you don't score a field goal in the fourth quarter. Luckily we had the lead and they had to foul us and we were able to make our free throws."

"This is what this team needs me to do and I've been there before," said Fedderly. "I've been the 'end of the game' guy for three years now and it wasn't any different for me. And now I'm a senior so if I don't make it I go home."

Kaneland won't be. The Knights will be trying to start Hampshire coach Bob Barnett's retirement party a little early while Burlington (14-15), which had a 10-point lead with 4:48 left in the third and watched Ryan Fitzgerald go for 13 points and 10 rebounds, will be going home thinking about the 6 free throws and the layups it missed in the final 12 minutes.

"In that fourth quarter it just comes down to free throws," said Rockets coach Brett Porto, whose team shot 16 of 49 from the field and 10 of 16 from the line, which included 4 misses in the fourth. "They made theirs, we missed ours and then we missed some really easy layups and in a game like that you can't miss layups, can't miss free throws."

The one BC connected on to tie it at 42 with 3:18 left was a circus move down the right of the lane from sophomore Ta Vontae Harris, who led the Rockets with 14 points to go with 2 steals. It was Central's first basket in well over 8 minutes, but even with the drought and a 10-3 run Knights run behind 3-pointers from David, Lilly and Dylan Vaca, Harris and company thought they survived the worst.

"When I hit that shot I thought we had a good chance of winning the game," Harris said. "I was trying to drive to draw the foul so I could get to the line because I knew I could hit my free throws."

Ironically, Harris, who believed the team got nervous at the end, hit both of his free throws in the fourth, but it was David's free throws with 1:26 left that put the Knights up for good at 44-42. Harris' 3-pointer attempt hit the back of the iron and Central was forced to foul Fedderly.

Harris' layup with 31.1 left made it 48-46 and Lilly gave BC a gift so to speak on his missed second free throw with 24.1 left but the ball tipped off BC out of bounds and Kaneland retained possession.

"They don't ask you how they ask you how many. We were lucky tonight. Burlington's tough," said Johnson, whose team shot 16 of 39 from the field. "That number 3 (Harris), he's a pistol out there. He's hard to guard and only a sophomore, and he's only played a half of a varsity season."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.